Thursday, October 18, 2012

Nissan DeltaWing's scary crash in Atlanta

I truly love this car. Nissan has reinvented the race car with amazing lightweight design and technology. They have taken this to the point where it looks more like a missile than a car.

Unfortunately they just can't catch a break, there have been issue after issue trying to launch this into the pro field. Watch the video below to see a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car driven by Gunnar Jeannette side swipe the DeltaWing to cause the car and driver upside down.

Yesterday, we caught word on Twitter that the Nissan DeltaWing had crashed during testing for this weekend's Petit Le Mans. Now Nissan has provided us with some frightening footage of how the incident went down. The important thing is that driver Gunnar Jeannette is okay, but this is yet another setback for Nissan and its radically experimental prototype racecar.

Just like the DeltaWing's crash at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, this wreck was a result of the car being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Heading into Turn 11 at Road Atlanta, Jeannette was passing the Green Hornet Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, competing in the GT-Challenge class, when the Porsche veered into the side of the DeltaWing right in front of the left rear wheel. This crash might bring in to question not just concerns over the racer's visibility to other drivers, it might also raise stability concerns for the wedge-shaped car since it appears the PIT-maneuver-like contact with the Porsche would have just sent most cars into a spin rather than flipping over.

The good news for the DeltaWing is that Nissan's Steve Yaeger, technology and motorsport communications manager, says the damage wasn't that severe, and it is hoping to have the car back on the track today.

From AutoBlog.Comhttp://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/18/watch-nissan-deltawings-scary-crash-in-atlanta/